ARCHIE Goodwin is an unabashed Liverpool fan.
He also dreams big.
Liverpool would be the ultimate destination for the 17-year-old Newcastle Jets striker with the knack of finding the back of the net.
But Goodwin knows dreams don't come true without hard work.
It is a message that came through loud and clear from one of Newcastle's - and Liverpool's - finest, Craig Johnston.
"It's an incredible story," Goodwin said of Johnston's rise from a Lake Macquarie schoolboy to star for the best team in world football in the 1980s.
"I have chatted to him at the presentation night in the past couple of years. I have listened to his podcast as well and he has some great advice."
Asked what resonated with him most, Goodwin said: "More the hard work. He started off in England scrubbing the football boots of senior players. Eventually he got his chance."
Goodwin has never shied away from hard work. But for the past 18 months the academy product has been restricted by a growing body struggling to handle the rigours of professional football.
Most of last season was spent on the sidelines, gradually increasing his work load.
"I jumped from under-16s to the first team and my body wasn't prepared for it," Goodwin said. "Early in the season I de-loaded. We had a 14-week plan and each week I progressed and my body got better through gym work and training. I did more and more each week to the point where I was 100 per cent fit.
"I am at a point now where I can play 90 minutes every week."
In a feel-good story for the club and the community, Goodwin - one of the hottest prospects in the country - will be at the Jets for at least the next three years after inking a contract extension on Wednesday.
"This has been my club since I was nine ... I'm very happy to get that contract," Goodwin said. "It feels really good. All my mates are in Newcastle. My mum really wanted me to stay."
Goodwin already owns a string of Jets and A-League records.
He is the youngest to debut for the club, at 16 years and 106 days, is the club's youngest goal scorer and this season became the youngest player in the A-League to score a double in a 2-0 win over Sydney - his first game back after nine months out.
"I have always wanted to score goals since I was a little kid," said Goodwin, who left school at the end of last year to focus 100 per cent on football. "I always wanted to be a striker not a centreback. Centrebacks don't score many goals."
The next goal for Goodwin is a starting spot at the Jets.
"I will push my hardest in the pre-season," Goodwin said. "I will make sure I do some work in the next few weeks to make sure I hit the ground running."
A new long-term contract brings with it expectation.
"I just focus on myself. I have to keep my head down and work hard," Goodwin said. "Our football is high tempo, high attacking. I just have to get myself in the box and into the right areas and the chances will come."
As well as cement a place in the Jets XI, Goodwin has his eyes on the Young Socceroos and the under-20 World Cup to be held in Indonesia next year.
As for his long term future?
"I have always wanted to go to Europe to play," he said. "The only way to get there is purely through hard work. Hard work is the most important thing in football."
